Sabdo earns honors for leading Rams

Saturday

With the running game failing to produce against Charlotte Catholic, Havelock had to rely on quarterback Zach Sabdo.

The senior threw for 207 yards and a touchdown, earning most outstanding offensive honors for the Rams in Havelock’s 28-14 loss to the Cougars in the state championship game.

The Rams trailed 13-7 at halftime, and it was Sabdo who got the Rams going to start the third quarter. He completed 5 of 8 passes on a 76-yard drive. Facing fourth down and 12 from the Catholic 27, Sabdo threw a perfect pass over the defense to Welton Spottsville for a 27-yard touchdown pass.

Christian Hoomana’s extra point lifted Havelock to a 14-13 lead that it would hold into the fourth quarter.

“We just had to get it going,” Sabdo said of the drive.

Havelock coach Caleb King said the Rams needed to come out with a strong start in the third quarter.

“Zach does an incredible job finding receivers, and those guys do a great job catching the ball,” he said.

But in the end, the Rams couldn't produce enough offense. Havelock managed just 67 yards rushing against Charlotte Catholic, and the Rams, who had been averaging 51 points per game, were held to a season-low 14.

“We just didn’t play our best,” Sabdo said.

Sabdo said the snow that fell constantly throughout the game didn’t have an impact on the Rams and was actually something the players enjoyed.

“Not too many people can say they played their last high school football game in the snow, so that was fun for us,” he said.

Sabdo finished his senior season with 288 completions on 395 attempts for 4,264 yards with 47 touchdowns. He broke his older brother Travis Sabdo’s school records for single-season passing yards of 3,554 yards and single-season touchdown passes of 43 set in 2014, when the Rams also lost in the state championship game.

Zach Sabdo also helped the Rams to the Coastal 3A Conference championship and the eastern regional 3A title to go along with a 14-2 record.

“It was fun,” he said, summing up his senior season. “Not too many people can say they broke a lot of records at their school.”